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My Three Joys

I was extremely saddened by the news Friday morning of the awful and heartless shooting in Aurora, CO. As some of you may know I lived in Denver for five years and have not only my mother living close to Aurora, but also my Lennon clan spread throughout the metro area. I immediately thought of all my family and friends who could have been directly affected. Thankfully none of them were. But regardless, I cannot help but sympathize for the State I used to call home and what they are experiencing right now. My prayers continue to be plentiful.

Last week was one filled with rest and solitude. Jake, along with thirty-two youth and seven adult leaders traveled to New Orleans for the 2012 ELCA National Youth Gathering. I was able to watch some live feeds of a couple of the speakers and know that the small amounts of love, compassion and joy I felt was nothing compared to what the adults and youth were experiencing. Truly amazing.

Although I was missing Jake dearly, I was excited to be able to enjoy watching girly TV show like catching up on one of my favorites, Brothers and Sisters. I also enjoyed a few nights of being extremely lazy and cuddling up with my kitties. Pure bliss.

Number One:

Last Thursday night my good friend Mandy and I were finally able to get together and catch up on life. I have known Mandy since high school and she is a member of our NHS girl 99 group. (North High School). We wanted to check out The Other Place in Clive, but were conflicted by having Big Brother be on around dinner time. So we opted to go and have a nice cold beverage at the bar and chatted away while sizing up the place. I have to say that I loved the atmosphere. Their restaurant is rather open with their main dining and the bar area and there appears to be great room around the almost oval-shaped bar. Our bartender was not the friendliest when we told her we were going to over for take-out, but did provide a smile when we ordered a drink.

The pizza came faster than we had anticipated and we finished our cold beverages while we continued to chat away. We then quickly raced home to watch the live eviction on Big Brother. I will tell you that I love everything about BB, right down tot he backstabbing and manipulation that goes on in that house. They are still early on in the season (Week 2) but so much has already taken place. While BB and watching it with Mandy was amazing, the food was not. I was rather disappointed in what I believe is pre-made frozen crust with tasteless sauce and nasty mozzarella that wouldn’t pass a 100% mozzarella test if it tried. Rather harsh I know, but those are my true thoughts. ( I unfortunately didn’t take any pictures, but no worries, you are not missing much). We also ordered the bread sticks which were apparently all the rage in college.( I honestly have no recollection of this.) They were just “meh” and didn’t really do anything for me.

I realize that I tend to be a pizza snob, but I am okay with that. I can enjoy other pizza other than my family’s restaurant, but when it is as bad as what I had, I just can’t fake it. Sorry OP. I will certainly go back for the bar atmosphere, but certainly not getting the pizza or bread sticks. Maybe to try out other food on the menu.

Number Two:

It’s the little things in life that bring me joy. For example, on Wednesday of last week I received a manilla folder that contained my unit lesson plans and a paper from my weekend class I took in June. Our professor took the time to read all of them thoroughly and made all sorts of comments all over them. I was delighted to read nothing but wonderful feedback and the beautiful comments my professor shared. Yes I am 31, but I think everyone, regardless of their age, needs to be praised, given positive feedback and encouragement, even if it is the little things. To me this was huge as it was my first time creating a unit plan and I was unsure if I was on the right track. But according to this prof- I nailed it out of the park!

Number Three:

Jake is home! I know, I know, he got back Monday morning, so technically not a part of last week, but hey, it still counts for me. I was so excited to see him that I had trouble falling asleep Sunday night and then up at 6 am texting him to see when he would arrive.

Seeing his face, his hairy face I might add, was pure bliss. I almost didn’t recognize him! We were both aware of the possibility of Jake’s hair returning a different color or style, but I don’t think either one of us were prepared for his dark brown-almost black hair to be sprouting from his face! And his eyebrows! Oh my!

And his voice is gone. My lovely husband sang his heart out leading a worship service on Saturday and that combined with a complete lack of sleep and always on the go has left me with a voiceless hubby. But nonetheless, he is home, safe and sound. And that makes me one happy wife.

I hope all of you have a wonderful week and if you are anywhere near the midwest where the heat continues to be a staggering 100 degrees everyday, drink lots of water and stay cool! Oh and dont’ forget that sunscreen! 😉